Credits: Social Media
You can finally schedule text messages on your iPhone with iOS 18
Forgetting to wish your friend a Happy Birthday is a thing of the past thanks to one nifty new iPhone feature that lets you schedule text messages.
It’s one of many new features that have arrived with iOS 18, including a brand new mode for gaming and the ability to lock your apps with Face ID.
Schedule text messages with iOS 18
If you need to organize a dinner with your sister but it’s too late at night, or you remember it’s your friend’s wedding anniversary in two days, ‘Send Later’ is a lifesaver.
You write a message as normal and instead of tapping ‘Send’ right away, you choose a time and date anywhere in the next 14 days.
The only catch is that you have to be using iMessage for it to work, so the other person must have an Apple device – but it can be an iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch or iPad.
- MORE NEW FEATURES: 5 new features you need to try when you upgrade to iOS 18
They will have no idea that the message was scheduled. It will send as normal, as if you sent the message at that exact time.
You can reschedule, edit, or delete a scheduled message at any time too, but you have to be online to do it.
It’s one of Apple’s most long-awaited features, with one person writing on Twitter/X: “We can finally schedule text messages in IOS 18 its about time.”
“It took them 18+ updates and like 16 phones but the iPhone can finally schedule a text to be sent,” said another.
How to schedule text messages
To schedule a text, you first need to make sure iOS 18 is downloaded on your device by going to Settings > Software Update.
Then, follow these steps:
- Open ‘Messages’
- Tap the ‘+’
- Choose ‘Send Later’
- Tap the time
- Select when you want the message to send
- Write your message
- Press the blue ‘Send’ arrow
Once scheduled, the message will appear at the bottom of the conversation with a black dashed line around it until it’s time to send.
How to edit and delete scheduled texts
If you want to change the time the message is scheduled for, open the message thread and the scheduled message should be at the bottom. Press ‘Edit’ and then select ‘Edit Time’ to change when it will be sent.
You can also edit the text in the message by touching and holding down on the message bubble. Then, tap ‘Edit’ and you can make any necessary changes. Once you’re done, press the blue tick to reschedule the text.
If you want to delete a scheduled text, all you have to do is touch and hold the message you want to cancel and press ‘Delete’. The message won’t send and the recipient will never know that you scheduled a text at all.
